Leigh

After leaving the office, I made sure to take the longest route possible back home. The glow of the afternoon sun bathed everything in an orangey light I noticed, finding myself wanting to take a picture of it and paint the scenery. However, I was severely lacking faith in my art skills, despite it being the passion that I was pursing in school. Besides, my phone's shitty camera wouldn't be able to capture the beauty in its entirety anyway. I adjusted the earbuds I was wearing as my favorite beat drop in the song begun right as I started crossing the street to my house. I slowly dragged my feet as I walked, not that it mattered how fast I went. We lived in a suburban neighborhood where a car would pass by every hour or so on a busy day. I commenced the daily routine of fishing through my bag for my keys as I stood in front of our hardwood door. I sighed as my hands grasped the cold metal at the bottom of the bag and made quick work of getting the door open.

As usual... no one's here, I thought to myself as the hallway was void of my father's shoes. I slipped the Vans off of my feet and left them on the welcome mat as I made a beeline for my room, turning all the lights on as I went.

"Home, sweet home." I muttered sarcastically as I lobbed my bookbag onto my bedroom floor, knowing that was the last time I'd be looking at it that evening. I flicked on the lights, standing with hands on hips at the cluttered room I so proudly claimed as my sanctuary. Yanking my earbuds out, I plopped into my computer chair and wheeled over to my desk. Somehow though, I couldn't muster up the motivation to log on to my various social media accounts. I didn't feel like watching t.v, or playing video games, or even making art. I laid my head on the flat surface of my desk and let my arms dangle to the floor as I slumped over. My eyes darted to my open room door and the huge empty hallway where I had left on all the lights. Even though the house was lit, it still didn't feel lived in and wasn't as comforting as I'd hoped. Nonetheless, I was used to the utter silence of being in an empty house. I thought about turning on a gaming live stream or an art tutorial, just to have the voice of another person filling the air. However, I quickly dismissed the idea and sat up in my chair.

"This sucks. Am I that desperate for social interaction?" I mumbled to myself as I pulled out my phone to check my messages.

"Mom didn't call me today either," I mumbled as I scrolled through my call log. Doing so eventually put me in the mood to talk, and I decided to chance a call to my best friend, Katalina. 

She should be in tutoring for another few minutes, I thought as I glanced at the time. Although, I tried it anyway as she was my best bet if I wanted to escape the loneliness of my household.

You'd think I'd be tired of socializing after that emotionally draining therapy session I just had. 

Lost in thought, I didn't register the slow beeping of the phone trying to connect until after a high pitched "hello?" rang in my ears.

"Catfish, you done with tutoring yet?"

"Ew, don't call me that, have you seen those things?"

"Yeah, looks just like you."

"Piss off!" She shouted, the corners of my mouth quirking up when I heard the familiar sound of her giggling. "You're lucky I can grace you with my time, my tutor just let me go. I just had the worst time with homework..."

"That's what happens when you suck at math."

"You're really asking for it today, huh? I can pull up to your house, I am very licensed." She threatened playfully and it was my turn to laugh. It felt almost cathartic to talk to her, like a rush of bubbly energy just washed over me.

"So pull up then!" I challenged, receiving a sassy hum in response before she let out a sigh.

"Whatever, I'm too exhausted for your bullshit. How was your day-" Mid-sentence she gasped as if something just struck her, her monotone voice being replaced instantly with worry. "Oh my God, I forgot! Today you had to go to that therapy thing your dad put you in, right?"

I released a breath I wasn't aware I was holding after she finished, appreciative of her concern. I pondered what to say to that and kept quiet as she continued.

"Ugh, I can just imagine what he put you through. It was probably some guy in his 60's with a balding problem who thinks he's better than everyone with his master's degree. He probably stared a lot and said 'how does that make you feel' like a gazillion times."

I chuckled at her ranting, knowing that she was trying to make me laugh and cheer me up. It was like she was venting for me because she knew that I wouldn't. She also knew full well that I didn't want to go to therapy, in fact, Katalina herself was my therapy. She usually knew just what to say to make me smile, and talking to her was one of my greatest joys. The bond we had was great as we both couldn't stand most of the population of our school. This mutual distaste for snobbish people stamped our eventual best friend status with a dark, brooding, misanthropic seal of approval.

"Mmm... it was okay," I answered her finally after a long pause, thinking back to the session. "He wasn't as bad as that, but was still really nosy with his questions."

"Haha, but it's his job to be!" She interjected.

"Right, but it's annoying." I quipped, earning me another laugh as I got up from my chair and went to the kitchen for some food. I opened the cabinet to retrieve the cereal and took out a bowl and spoon, grabbing the milk from the fridge while Katalina talked my ear off.

"How can you be mad at the guy for just doing his job? Be mad at your dad for making you go! I know you, you were probably so rude to him! Don't be mean to the elderly, Leigh!" She scolded, and I rolled my eyes as I poured out the cereal and milk.

"I wanted to discourage him as much as possible so I could get it over with." I explained as I dipped my spoon into the sugary goodness and began to chow down. "-And the guy wasn't that much older than us anyway."

"Huh?" I heard her confusion from the other end of the line before it shifted to skepticism, "by how much?"

"We're 5 years apart."

"WHAT?!" I yanked the phone from my ear as she yelled, her already high pitched voice rising like a crescendo in excitement.

"I thought he was some wrinkly old fart!"

"Nah." I replied with a mouthful of cereal, already raising another spoonful to my face.

"So, is he hot?!"

I choked at her words, the spoon clattering onto the counter as I smacked my chest and tried to swallow. After a coughing fit, I put the phone on speaker and shouted indignantly.

"You could've killed me! I nearly died on Frosted Flakes!"

"Well, Tony the Tiger would've had a big lawsuit. Also he's totally hot, isn't he!"

"No! I mean..." I struggled to think of a proper response, wanting to be truthful as I pictured the man in my head. 

Just the right amount of tall, sleek black hair, unclouded grey eyes, and a pristine white collar with fashionable suit. Most girls would go for somebody like that, right?

"I-I guess he's objectively... not unattractive?"

"That's a double negative, Leigh, baby." Katalina chimed in sweetly with an all-knowing tone.

"I mean, I don't know, Kat! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and all that jazz. What kind of freaking question is that to ask me anyway, 'do I think my therapist is hot?'

"Well the fact that you got this defensive... means he's definitely at least an 8 out of 10."